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Lifesaving Training for Reporters

By David GonzalezApr. 18, 2012Apr. 18, 2012

Update | 2:15 p.m.

Sebastian Junger realized two things after his friend and colleague Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya last year. Rapid first aid could have saved him — and most reporters have no training in staying cool and acting fast to stop the bleeding from battlefield wounds.

“Freelancers were the ones doing the vast majority of the front-line reporting, but they’re also the ones most underserved by the journalistic establishment,” said Mr. Junger, who made the documentary “Restrepo” with Mr. Hetherington. “They have no money. The people who are doing the bulk of the dangerous reporting are the ones who are least trained. I thought that should change.”

This week, one year after the attack in Misurata that cost the lives of Mr. Hetherington and Chris Hondros, several dozen freelance war reporters will be trained in lifesaving measures, thanks to an effort begun by Mr. Junger. Financed by various media companies — as well as the fund established in Mr. Hondros’s memory — the all-expenses-paid program called Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues will provide them with three days of specialized first-aid training and supply them with emergency medical kits.

“Tim’s wound was not necessarily fatal,” Mr. Junger said. “He bled out. He had a very dangerous wound, an arterial bleed in his groin. But I talked to some combat medics, and they said though it’s dangerous, you can slow down the blood loss. He was minutes away from the hospital when he died.”

ReutersTim Hetherington, right, with Sebastian Junger during an assignment for Vanity Fair at Outpost Restrepo in Afghanistan.

Starting on Wednesday at the Bronx Documentary Center, participants will learn how to stop bleeding and make sure breathing is unobstructed, along with other emergency measures, participating in role-playing exercises under increasing pressure so they will be at ease should they ever have to put their training to use.

“It’s different from ordinary first aid,” said James Foley, a freelancer whose work has appeared in GlobalPost. “It’s the absolutely lifesaving stuff that would apply to a bomb or a bullet. It’s an essentially different way of looking at injuries. You can never get enough of that. It has to become like muscle memory.”

The fact that the training is aimed at freelancers had wide appeal among those who knew they needed specialized training but could not afford it. Beth Murphy, a documentary filmmaker, said the training allowed her to finally address a growing concern.

“I feel a responsibility to my colleagues and the members of my crew,” said Ms. Murphy, whose latest documentary, “The List,” follows the lives of Iraqis who helped American troops. “But I haven’t done the most important thing to help keep us safe. This fills in the last gap.”

It also reunites the legacies of Mr. Hetherington and Mr. Hondros. Christina Piaia, Mr. Hondros’s fiancée, had been looking to finance a training program when she heard about Mr. Junger’s effort. Rather than start their own program, she decided to help underwrite Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues.

“It has a special place in our hearts because it’s dedicated to Tim, who was a friend and colleague of Chris,” she said. “We very much made the donation to honor and contribute to the very important life he led.”

Mr. Junger plans to hold similar training sessions in London and Beirut. He hopes that as more people are trained, freelancers will have not just a set of tools, but also a standard they can aspire to.

“I’m hoping proper medical training and having a medical pack will become the industry norm,” he said. “If you wind up on assignment, and the photographer you’re with is not trained by us, or isn’t carrying a medical pack, you can reasonably say, ‘I’m sorry, but I’m not working with you.’ You can say that happened with bulletproof vests. When I was reporting in Sarajevo, almost no one had them. Now, if you showed up in Libya without one, you looked like an amateur.”